Reading The Book-or Just Some Parts of It
by Apollo's Best Friend
Summary: Perci, Thalia, and Annabeth are transported into the Olympian Throne Room in 2000 by The Fates, just before Chapter Nine of The Last Olympian. They are reading from Chapter Nine of The Last Olympian until the End of the book. Perci/Hermes, Thalia/Apollo, Annabeth/Triton-I like trying new things...HAVE FUN READING! (If that's possible...sorry, Annabeth, ATHENA PLZ DON'T KILL ME!)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Do I look like Rick Riordan? Nope. Not me. I do not own anything you know or recognize.**

**I do know that this is an overused plot, but I thought, hell with it, why not?**

**Summary: Perci, Thalia, and Annabeth are transported into the Olympian Throne Room in 2000 by The Fates, just before Chapter Nine of The Last Olympian. They are reading from Chapter Nine of The Last Olympian until the End of the book. Perci/Hermes, Thalia/Apollo, Annabeth/Triton**

**I've never tried using Triton before...so...GODS HELP ME PLEASE!**

**Now I bring to **

* * *

**DAMN THE FATES**

**Chapter One**

**of**

**Reading The Book-or Just Some Parts of It...**

* * *

Two girls were facing a god, before they were enclosed in a brilliant flash of light.

**YEAR 2000~**

The gods and goddesses, the twelve gods/goddesses with thrones, were in the throne room of Mount Olympus, when three girls fell from the sky. Zeus snapped his fingers and two of the girls floated to the floor while the last one fell to the floor with a dull _thud_.

"Ow...Hey, Thals, Annie, why did you get to float while I fell?" The girl who hit the floor moaned, cradling her head.

Zeus, not amused, cleared his throat, glaring at the 'petty' mortals that dared interrupt the council meeting.

The three girls whirled around.

"What the hell?" The green-eyes one cursed.

"Tartarus, Perci." The blonde haired grey eyes girl corrected.

"Whatever. What the Styx. Happy now? But...Aren't we in the middle of a war?" The green-eyes girl asked, her fingers twiddling with a gold and white tiara. Just then, a book fell from the sky and landed onto the green-eyed girl. "Oof..."

"Introduce yourselves." Zeus thundered **(pun intended, sorry)**. The green-eyed girl stood up, her sea-green eyes flashing with irritation.

"Whatever, Sparky." She muttered under her breath. A few gods/goddesses snorted, while Zeus glared at the girl.

"Fine. Persephone Vesta Jackson." The gods were confused. Wasn't Vesta Hestia's Roman name?

"Titles?" Athena inquired. The green-eyed girl rolled her eyes.

"All of them?" Perci asked.

"Yup."

"Whatever." She sighed as she started listing off. "Daughter of Poseidon." Cue glares at Poseidon as he looked at his _little girl_ in shock.

"Defeater of Alecto..." Perci hummed as Hades and Triton, along with Persephone and Amphitrite flashed in. They shrugged as the others looked at them in curiosity.

"Defeater of the Minotaur." Cue gasps.

"Slayer of Medusa." Cue surprised looks.

"Retriever of Zeus' Lightning Bolt." Cue more gasps and interested look from Athena.

"Sailor of the Sea of Monsters." Cue even more gasps and an impressed look from Dionysus and Athena.

"Retriever of the Golden Fleece." Cue shocked look from Hermes and Apollo.

"Champion of Hestia/Vesta." **(Just for a twist, and because I can) **Cue gasps from all present except for Perci.

"Bearer of the Titan's Curse." Athena and Amphitrite were surprised, as well as Artemis, as they saw the strand of grey hair in Perci's beautiful silky raven black hair.

"The what?" Hermes and Apollo chorused.

"The Titan's Curse." Annabeth and Athena rolled their eyes.

"Atlas' curse, holding up the sky, smart-ass." Perci hummed, before realizing what she said and blushing. "Oops?"

"Just keep on going." Thalia prompted.

"Navigator of Daedalus' Labyrinth." Athena gave Perci a calculating look.

"And I think that's it..."

"You seem to have...two more?" Apollo asked. Perci turned slightly pink and looked away.

"C'mon, Perci." Thalia and Annabeth smirked, knowing what one of them was.

"Styx." Perci swore. "Fine."

"Bearer of the Curse of Achilles." Poseidon and Zeus looked at Perci in shock and alarm.

"What?" The brothers spluttered.

"What's the last one?" Hermes asked curiously, the wings on his shoes flapping, him floating silently.

"Can I not share this one?" Perci pleaded, looking at her friends with wide, _innocent-as if_ eyes.

"You have to share this one." Thalia and Annabeth replied as one.

"B-but..." Perci, obviously recognizing defeat, looked down. "Girlfriend of Hermes..." She muttered. Ignoring the gods/goddesses surprised/shocked looks, Thalia stepped forwards.

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus." Hades glares at Zeus and Poseidon.

"Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis." Artemis looked at Thalia in shock.

"What about Zoe?" Artemis asked.

"She lies in the stars now..." Perci whispered, tears glistening in her sea-green eyes.

"And I am Annabeth Chase, daughter of Olympus. Bearer of the Titan's Curse, Navigator of Daedalus' Labyrinth, Fighter of Olympus...girlfriend of Triton." Annabeth kept her blush to a minimum, ignoring Triton's shocked look and the approving look from Amphitrite,

"Now let's read the book!" Apollo shouted. They had all forgotten about the book.

**Sorry about the overused plot-was bored-nothing to do-listening to the radio-waiting for inspiration**

**Till next time,**

**You-Know-Who**

**No, I am not Voldemort-I am**

**Apollo's Best Friend**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, nor do I own anything/anyone you recognize...scratch that...I own nothing**

**Just for fun...**

**And just because I can...**

**And because I am bored...**

**And because I've decided that sometimes just listening to music is boring...**

**I've decided to update this!**

**That's a happy thing...right?**

* * *

**I Hate My Cousin!**

**Chapter Two**

**of**

**Reading the Book-Or Just Some Parts of It...**

* * *

"Let's start reading!" Apollo shouted.

"Who's reading first?" Athena asked.

"Me, of course, I want to learn about my future girlfriend!" Hermes said excitedly. Poseidon gave him a slight glare for referring to his _little girl_ like that.

Hermes opened the book.

"This starts on...Chapter Nine...**Two Snakes Save My Life**...hm..."

"Just read already!" Artemis snapped.

**TWO SNAKES SAVE ****MY LIFE**

**I love New York. You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park, hail a taxi, head down Fifth Avenue with a giant hellhound loping along behind you, and nobody even looks at you funny.**

"Why were you in the Underworld, niece?" Hades asked curiously. Perci grimaced.

"What happened there?" Annabeth asked, her grey eyes calculating. Perci grimaced again.

"You'll probably find out." The green-eyed girl muttered.

**Of course, the Mist helped. People probably couldn't see Mrs. O'Leary, or maybe they thought she was a large, loud, very friendly truck.**

The gods-the immature ones cough-Apollo-cough-Hermes-cough laughed as the time-travelers gave small smiles.

"Ah...Mrs. O'Leary, my favorite Hellhound in the world." Perci hummed, her fingers tugging at a guitar charm on her bracelet of charms.

**I took the risk of using my mom's cell phone to call Annabeth for the second time. I'd called her once from the runnel but only reached her voice mail. I'd gotten surprisingly good reception, seeing as I was at the mythological center of the world and all, but I didn't want to see what my mom's roaming charges were going to be.**

"There are gods with cell phones.' Hermes thought aloud. Perci rolled her eyes.

**This time, Annabeth picked up.**

**"Hey," I said. "You get my message?"**

**"Perci, where have you been? Your message said almost nothing! We've been worried sick!"**

"Then go find Apollo." Perci and Annabeth smirked at Thalia, who rolled her eyes, hiding a blush.

"For the effing last time, I DO NOT LIKE APOLLO! I'M A FREAKING HUNTRESS!" Thalia yelled.

"No, you don't like Apollo." Annabeth smiled as Thalia relaxed her posture slightly.

"You love Apollo." Perci laughed. Thalia turned red, spluttering.

"Y-you little!" Thalia threatened them, electricity crackling between her hands.

"Me little what?" Perci asked in a Scottish accent.

Hermes and Apollo fell to the floor, laughing. The other gods/goddesses managed to crack a smile, except Artemis, who glared at her younger twin brother.

"READ!" She ordered Hermes.

**"I'll fill you in later," I said, though how I was going to do that I had no idea. "Where are you?"**

"I don't know." Annabeth shrugged. "Where are you?"

**"We're on our way like you asked, almost to the Queens—Midtown Tunnel. But, Perci, what are you planning? We've left the camp virtually undefended, and there's no way the gods—"**

**"Trust me," I said. "I'll see you there."**

**I hung up. My hands were trembling. I wasn't sure if it was a leftover reaction from my dip in the Styx, or anticipation of what I was about to do. If this didn't work, being invulnerable wasn't going to save me from getting blasted to bits. Hopefully, I won't go to the Field of Punishments...**

"Hm..." Hermes tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Just read, Hermes." Athena ordered.

"No." Hermes shook his head.

"Read." Annabeth attempted, looking frustrated when Hermes shook his head again.

"C'mon, Hermes..." Thalia pleaded. Another shake of the head.

"Perci..." Thalia and Annabeth turned to Perci, who backed away.

"What are you guys-er...girls looking at?" Perci asked, faking innocence.

"Your his girlfriend." Artemis said. "Even if I don't approve dating, please get your stubborn boyfriend to read before you girls turn into old ladies."

"Fine." Perci sighed. She walked up to Hermes slowly. Hermes looked up at her. Mentally screaming insults at her so-called friends, Perci sat down next to her future boyfriend.

"Dear Hermes." Perci started, barely refraining from gritting her teeth. "Will you please read?" Perci pleaded. The corners of Hermes' lips twitched.

"Nope." Hermes said happily, popping the "p" while he was at it.

"Really?" Perci asked, her lower lip trembling, her eyes wide with a look of sadness and innocence in them. Hermes' willpower was wavering from Perci's puppy-dog eyes.

"No."

"For me?" Perci begged, looking up at Hermes, her big green doe-eyes shattering Hermes' willpower.

'Fine...but you owe me..." Hermes grumbled, wrapping his arms around Perci, placing her onto his lap-causing Poseidon to glare at Hermes and Aphrodite to squeal-and starting to read.

**It was late afternoon when the taxi dropped me at the Empire State Building. Mrs. O'Leary bounded up and down Fifth Avenue, licking cabs and sniffing hot dog carts. Nobody seemed to notice her, although people did swerve away and look confused when she came close.**

"Foolish mortals." Ares sneered.

**I whistled for her to heel as three white vans pulled up to the curb. They said _Delphi Strawberry_ _Service, _ which was the cover name for Camp Half-Blood. I'd never seen all three vans in the same place at once, though I knew they shuttled our fresh produce into the city.**

**The first van was driven by Argus, our many-eyed security chief. The other two were driven by harpies, who are basically demonic human/chicken hybrids with bad attitudes. We used the harpies mostly for cleaning the camp, but they did pretty well in midtown traffic too.**

**The doors slid open. A bunch of campers climbed out, some of them looking a little green from the long drive. I was glad so many had come: Pollux, Silena Beauregard, the Stoll brothers, Michael Yew, Jake Mason, Katie Gardner, and Annabeth, along with most of their siblings. Chiron came out of the van last. His horse half was compacted into his magic wheelchair, so he used the handicap lift. The Ares cabin wasn't here, but I tried not to get too angry about that. Clarisse was a stubborn idiot, but also someone I would trust with my life. End of story.**

"You seem to be very loyal...almost too loyal..." Athena mused.

"Eh...makes sense..." Annabeth agreed with her mother. Perci shrugged.

**I did a head count: forty campers in all.**

**Not many to fight a war, but it was still the largest group of half-bloods I'd ever seen gathered in one place outside camp. Everyone looked nervous, and I understood why. We were probably sending out so much demigod aura that every monster in the northeastern United States knew we were here.**

"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" Ares chanted.

"Shut up." Artemis snapped.

"Read, please." Perci asked Hermes, tracing his jaw line gently. Hermes nodded, hugged Perci to him slightly tighter, and read on.

**As I looked at their faces—all these campers I'd known for so many summers—a nagging voice whispered in my mind: _One of them is a spy._**

**But I couldn't dwell on that. They were my friends. I needed them.**

**Then I remembered Kronos's evil smile. _You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. _**

'That's...not always true..." Perci whispered softly, yet all the gods/goddesses present could hear her.

"What about Luke?" Thalia asked, her eyes flashing with sadness yet anger. Perci flinched. The similarities between Hermes and his son was very hard to bear sometimes.

"Sorry..." Thalia muttered.

"How is father involved?" Poseidon asked. The immortals couldn't answer.

"You'll find out..." Perci whispered sadly, laying her head on Hermes' shoulder quietly, hiding tears.

**Annabeth came up to me. She was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder—ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.**

**She frowned. "What is it?"**

**"What's what?" I asked.**

**"You're looking at me funny."**

"Really?" Perci asked. Annabeth shrugged.

**I realized I was thinking about my strange vision of Annabeth and Hermes pulling me out of the Styx River.**

"AWWWWWWWWW!" Aphrodite squealed. Poseidon gave Hermes a calculating look (how is that possible?!) before deeming that if his daughter was happy with Hermes, then he'll accept the fact that they date in the future.

** "It's nothing." I turned to the rest of the group. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."**

**My old mentor shook his head. "I came to wish you luck, Perci. But I make it a point never to visit Olympus unless I am summoned."**

**"But you're our leader."**

"No..." Annabeth objected. Perci had a confused look on her face.

"You are our leader, Persephone Jackson." Thalia and Annabeth announced.

**He smiled. "I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help. Meanwhile, _you _ called the campers here, Perci. _You _ are the leader."**

"See? Even Chiron agrees with us." Thalia muttered.

**I wanted to protest, but everybody was looking at me expectantly, even Annabeth.**

"Sometimes I feel that you overestimate me..." Perci muttered under her breath. Hermes looked at her in concern, before continuing to read.

**I took a deep breath. "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city.**

"That's probably not going to be easy." Zeus whispered softly, shocking everybody seeing as they forgot he was there.

**Remember, we can't take no for an answer."**

**I asked Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary, which neither of them looked happy about.**

**Chiron shook my hand. "You'll do well, Perci. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses."**

**It sounded eerily close to what Achilles had told me. Then I remembered Chiron had _taught _ Achilles.**

"Hm...I always wonder if Achilles ever had a sister..." Hermes thought aloud...again... Apollo looked away, slightly guilty as Zeus snapped his fingers.

**(OC INCOMING!)**

A teenage girl fell from the sky. Zeus let air currents slowly settle her to the ground. She was laying there peacefully, but you could see a scar from her temple, around her eye, to her chin, slightly swerving. She was asleep.

"Lyra..." Hermes breathed. Thalia narrowed her eyes at Hermes while Perci stiffened slightly.

"Who is she?" Thalia asked bluntly, slightly suspicious.

"She's my daughter." Hermes said quietly, knowing where Thalia was going. Perci carefully got up from her position on Hermes and walked over cautiously to Lyra. She crouched down next to her and lifted her up, wincing as her foot nearly slipped. Thalia and Annabeth hurried over to Perci and helped her set Hermes' daughter on a fluffy white and silver couch. Thalia and Annabeth sat on one side of Lyra as Perci sat down next to her father. Feeling slightly hurt, Hermes read on.

**That didn't exactly reassure me, but I nodded and tried to give him a confident smile.**

**"Let's go," I told the campers.**

"Let us leave..." Annabeth muttered thoughtfully. Perci hid a snicker, but Thalia just laughed.

"What?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"The way you said it...you said it like _lettuce-leaf_." Perci laughed, unable to hide her amusement. Annabeth rolled her eyes and gestured for Hermes to continue reading.

**A security guard was sitting behind the desk in the lobby, reading a big black book with a flower on the cover. He glanced up when we all filed in with our weapons and armor clanking. "School group? We're about to close up."**

"Idiot..." Ares sneered.

"He'd be better off with cereal." Demeter huffed. Perci perked up.

"Lady Demeter," Perci started as Demeter glanced at her, "can I have a bowl of cereal?" Perci asked. Demeter smiled, snapped her fingers, and a bowl of Cheerios appeared in Perci's hands.

"There you go."

"Thank you, milady."

"You are welcome, and just call me Demeter and Aunty Dem."

Shrugging, Hermes continued to read.

**"No," I said. "Six-hundredth floor."**

**He checked us out. His eyes were pale blue and his head was completely bald. I couldn't tell if he was human or not, but he seemed to notice our weapons, so I guess he wasn't fooled by the Mist.**

**"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." He said it like it was a required line he didn't believe. "Move along."**

**I leaned across the desk. "Forty demigods attract an awful lot of monsters. You really want us hanging out in your lobby?"**

**He thought about that. Then he hit a buzzer and the security gate swung open. "Make it quick."**

**"You don't want us going through the metal detectors," I added.**

**"Um, no," he agreed. "Elevator on the right. I guess you know the way."**

**I tossed him a golden drachma and we marched ill rough.**

**We decided it would take two trips to get everybody up in the elevator. I went with the first group.**

**Different elevator music was playing since my last visit—that old disco song "Stayin' Alive." A terrifying image flashed through my mind of Apollo in bell-bottom pants and a slinky silk shirt.**

Apollo gave a mischievous smile as Annabeth and Thalia gagged. Perci just looked on in amusement.

**I was glad when the elevator doors finally dinged open. In front of us, a path of floating stones led through the clouds up to Mount Olympus, hovering six thousand feet over Manhattan.**

**I'd seen Olympus several times, but it still took my breath away. The mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain. Gardens bloomed on a hundred terraces. Scented smoke rose from braziers that lined the winding streets. And right at the top of the snow-capped crest rose the main palace of the gods. It looked as majestic as ever, but something seemed wrong. Then I realized the mountain was silent—no music, no voices, no laughter.**

"We're in the middle of a war, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth and Thalia mock-whispered.

"Whatever, Wise Girl, Pinecone Face." Perci 'whispered' back.

"Kelp Head." Thalia mumbled.

"Lightning Bug." Perci smirked.

"HERMES, KEEP ON READING!" Hades shouted.

**Annabeth studied me. "You look . . . different," she decided. "Where exactly did you go?"**

**The elevator doors opened again, and the second group of half-bloods joined us.**

**"Tell you later," I said. "Come on."**

**We made our way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus. The shops were closed. The parks were empty. A couple of Muses sat on a bench strumming flaming lyres, but their hearts didn't seem to be in it. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor godling spotted us from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.**

**We passed under a big marble archway with statues of Zeus and Hera on either side. Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.**

**"Hate her," she muttered.**

Hera grimaced.

**"Has she been cursing you or something?" I asked. Last year Annabeth had gotten on Hera's bad side, but Annabeth hadn't really talked about it since.**

**"Just little stuff so far," she said. "Her sacred animal is the cow, right?"**

**"Right."**

**"So she sends cows after me."**

**I tried not to smile. "Cows? In San Francisco?"**

**"Oh, yeah. Usually I don't see them, but the cows leave me little presents all over the place—in our backyard, on the sidewalk, in the school hallways. I have to be careful where I step."**

Hermes and Apollo snickered, so Perci threw two balls of water at them.

**"Look!" Pollux cried, pointing toward the horizon. "What is _that? _"**

"What's what?"

**We all froze. Blue lights were streaking across the evening sky toward Olympus like tiny comets.**

**They seemed to be coming from all over the city, heading straight toward the mountain. As they got close, they fizzled out. We watched them for several minutes and they didn't seem to do any damage, but still it was strange.**

**"Like infrared scopes," Michael Yew muttered. "We're being targeted."**

**"Let's get to the palace," I said.**

**No one was guarding the hall of the gods. The gold-and-silver doors stood wide open. Our footsteps echoed as we walked into the throne room.**

**Of course, "room" doesn't really cover it. The place was the size of Madison Square Garden. High above, the blue ceiling glittered with constellations. Twelve giant empty thrones stood in a U around a hearth. In one corner, a house-size globe of water hovered in the air, and inside swam my old friend the Ophiotaurus, half-cow, half-serpent.**

"BESSIE!" Perci shouted, excited.

**_"Moooo!" _ he said happily, turning in a circle.**

**Despite all the serious stuff going on, I had to smile. Two years ago we'd spent a lot of time trying to save the Ophiotaurus from the Titans, and I'd gotten kind of fond of him. He seemed to like me too, even though I'd originally thought he was a girl and named him Bessie.**

"You don't change much." Athena murmured. Perci shrugged.

**"Hey, man," I said. "They treating you okay?"**

**_"Mooo," _ Bessie answered.**

**We walked toward the thrones, and a woman's voice said, "Hello again, Perci Jackson. You and your friends are welcome."**

"Ooh...that's my favorite goddess!" Perci chattered excitedly.

**Hestia stood by the hearth, poking the flames with a stick. She wore the same kind of simple brown dress as she had before, but she was a grown woman now.**

**I bowed. "Lady Hestia."**

**My friends followed my example.**

**Hestia regarded me with her red glowing eyes. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."**

"The curse of my brother?" They heard a new voice ask. Lyra had woken up. She looked around, her eyes not really focusing on anything, before she looked at Perci.

"Persephone Jackson-you've taken a dip in the River Styx?" Lyra whispered, her eyes hazy. Perci nodded.

"Yes, miss. Are you okay?" Perci asked. Lyra nodded before drifting off again.

**The other campers started muttering among themselves: _What did she say? What about Achilles? _**

**"You must be careful," Hestia warned me. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order."**

**Annabeth nudged me. "Um . . . what is she talking about?"**

**I stared into Hestia's eyes, and an image rushed into my mind: I saw a dark alley between red brick warehouses. A sign above one of the doors read RICHMOND IRONWORKS.**

**Two half-bloods crouched in the shadows—a boy about fourteen and a girl about twelve. I realized with a start that the boy was Luke. The girl was Thalia, daughter of Zeus. I was seeing a scene from back in the days when they were on the run, before Grover found them.**

**Luke carried a bronze knife. Thalia had her spear and shield of terror, Aegis. Luke and Thalia both looked hungry and lean, with wild animal eyes, like they were used to being attacked.**

**"Are you sure?" Thalia asked.**

**Luke nodded. "Something down here. I sense it."**

"Good senses..." Artemis tapped her chin.

**A rumble echoed from the alley, like someone had banged on a sheet of metal. The half-bloods crept forward.**

**Old crates were stacked on a loading dock. Thalia and Luke approached with their weapons ready. A curtain of corrugated tin quivered as _if _ something were behind it.**

**Thalia glanced at Luke. He counted silently: _One, two, three! _ He ripped away the tin, and a little girl flew at him with a hammer.**

"ANNIE! You scared me." Thalia whisper-shouted.

**"Whoa!" Luke said.**

**The girl had tangled blond hair and was wearing flannel pajamas. She couldn't have been more than seven, but she would've brained Luke if he hadn't been so fast.**

**He grabbed her wrist, and the hammer skittered across the cement.**

**The little girl fought and kicked. "No more monsters! Go away!"**

"We weren't going to hurt you."

**"It's okay!" Luke struggled to hold her. "Thalia, put your shield up. You're scaring her."**

**Thalia tapped Aegis, and it shrank into a silver bracelet. "Hey, it's all right," she said. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke."**

**"Monsters!"**

**"No," Luke promised. "But we know all about monsters. We fight them too."**

**Slowly, the girl stopped kicking. She studied Luke and Thalia with large intelligent gray eyes.**

**"You're like me?" she said suspiciously.**

"Annabeth." Athena whispered, her eyes showing pride.

**"Yeah," Luke said. "We're . . . well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"**

**"My family hates me," the girl said. "They don't want me. I ran away."**

**Thalia and Luke locked eyes. I knew they both related to what she was saying.**

**"What's your name, kiddo?" Thalia asked.**

**"Annabeth."**

**Luke smiled. "Nice name. I tell you what, Annabeth—you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."**

**Annabeth's eyes widened. "You could?"**

**"Oh, yeah." Luke turned his knife and offered her the handle. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."**

**Maybe under most circumstances, offering a seven-year-old kid a knife would not be a good idea, but when you're a half-blood, regular rules kind of go out the window.**

"Yup, especially when you're father tells you not to date any gods." Annabeth muttered, referring to herself as well as Perci.

**Annabeth gripped the hilt.**

**"Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," Luke explained. "They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."**

**Annabeth stared at him with adoration. "I am!"**

"I was so childish back then." Annabeth whispered sadly.

"You were still a child at that time."

**Thalia grinned. "We'd better get going, Annabeth. We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."**

**"You're . . . you're not going to take me back to my family?" she said. "Promise?"**

**Luke put his hand on her shoulder. "You're part of _our _ family now. And I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I'm _not _ going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"**

"You didn't let anything else hurt me, you hurt me." Annabeth murmured softly.

**"Deal!" Annabeth said happily.**

**"Now, come on," Thalia said. "We can't stay put for long!"**

**The scene shifted. The three demigods were running through the woods. It must've been several days later, maybe even weeks. All of them looked beat up, like they'd seen some battles. Annabeth was wearing new clothes—jeans and an oversize army jacket.**

**"Just a little farther!" Luke promised. Annabeth stumbled, and he took her hand. Thalia brought up the rear, brandishing her shield like she was driving back whatever pursued them. She was limping on her left leg.**

**They scrambled to a ridge and looked down the other side at a white Colonial house—May Castellan's place.**

**"All right," Luke said, breathing hard. "I'll just sneak in and grab some food and medicine. Wait here."**

**"Luke, are you sure?" Thalia asked. "You swore you'd never come back here. If she catches you—"**

**"We don't have a choice!" he growled. "They burned our nearest safe house. And you've got to treat that leg wound."**

**"This is your house?" Annabeth said with amazement.**

**"It _was _ my house," Luke muttered. "Believe me, if it wasn't an emergency—"**

**"Is your mom really horrible?" Annabeth asked. "Can we see her?"**

**"No!" Luke snapped.**

**Annabeth shrank away from him as though his anger surprised her.**

**"I . . . I'm sorry," he said. "Just wait here. I promise everything will be okay. Nothing's going to hurt you. I'll be back—"**

**A brilliant golden flash illuminated the woods. The demigods winced, and a man's voice boomed:**

**"You should not have come home."**

Perci gave a small glare at her future boyfriend.

"Luke was only trying to help Thalia and Annabeth." She hissed angrily.

**The vision shut off.**

**My knees buckled, but Annabeth grabbed me. "Perci! What happened?"**

**"Did . . . did you see that?" I asked.**

**"See what?"**

**I glanced at Hestia, but the goddess's face was expressionless. I remembered something she'd told me in the woods: _If you are to understand your enemy Luke, you must understand his family. _ But why had she shown me those scenes?**

**"How long was I out?" I muttered.**

**Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "Perci, you weren't out at all. You just looked at Hestia for like one second and collapsed."**

**I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I couldn't afford to look weak. Whatever those visions meant, I had to stay focused on our mission.**

**"Um, Lady Hestia," I said, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see—"**

"See me because of all the 'KRONOS ATTACKING MT. OLYMPUS' business." Zeus huffed.

"You do realize that if he destroyed your thrones, you would fade?" The immortals paled at the new piece of information from the daughter of Athena.

**"We know what you need," a man's voice said. I shuddered, because it was the same voice I'd heard in the vision. I knew who it was, and always tried to help when he was angry or annoyed.**

**A god shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and elfish features. He wore a military pilot's flight suit, with tiny bird's wings fluttering on his helmet and his black leather boots. In the crook of his arm was a long staff entwined with two living serpents.**

"Hermes." Perci breathed softly, walking back over to her boyfriend, closing her eyes, and drifting off.

**"I will leave you now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator and disappeared into smoke. I understood why she was so anxious to go. Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not look happy.**

**"Hello, Perci." His brow furrowed as though he was annoyed with me, and I wondered if he somehow knew about the vision I'd just had. I wanted to ask why he'd been in May Castellan's house that night, and what had happened after he caught Luke. I remembered the first time I'd met Luke at Camp Half-Blood. I'd asked him if he'd ever met his father, and he'd looked at me bitterly and said, _Once. _ But I could tell from Hermes's expression that this was not the time to ask.**

**I bowed awkwardly. "Lord Hermes."**

Perci shot up, her eyes wide with fear.

"What happened?" Hermes asked gently.

"Nothing, just a nightmare."

**_Oh, sure, _ one of the snakes said in my mind. _Don't say hi to _ us. _We're just reptiles. _**

**_George, _ the other snake scolded. _Be polite. _**

**"Hello, George," I said. "Hey, Martha."**

**_Did you bring us a rat? _ George asked.**

**_George, stop it, _ Martha said. _He's busy!_**

Sighing, Perci reached into her pocket and took out two rat flavored treats. She handed them to Hermes who handed them to his snakes.

**_Too busy for rats? _ George said. _That's just sad. _Sighing, Perci reached into her pocket and took out two rat flavored treats. She handed one treat to each snake.**

**"Um, Hermes," I said. "We need to talk to Zeus. ****It's important."**

**Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?" I winced as pain shot through my heart. I steeled my expression and continued, trying not to show too much information.**

**Behind me, the other demigods shifted restlessly. This wasn't going as planned.**

**"You guys," I said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth and me back here in thirty minutes."**

**Silena frowned. "But—"**

"That's a good idea." Annabeth muttered. "Why don't Connor and Travis lead?"

**"That's a good idea," Annabeth said. "Connor and Travis, you two lead."**

**The Stolls seemed to like that—getting handed an important responsibility right in front of their dad.**

**They usually never led anything except toilet paper raids. "We're on it!" Travis said. They herded the others out of the throne room, leaving Annabeth and me with Hermes.**

**"My lord," Annabeth said. "Kronos is going to attack New York. You must suspect that. My _mother_ must have foreseen it."**

**"Your mother," Hermes grumbled. He scratched his back with his caduceus, and George and Martha muttered _Ow, ow, ow_. "Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. ****Zeus didn't want any of us to leave the front line. But your mother kept pestering him nonstop, 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.' She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent _me _ to talk to you."**

**"But it _is _ a trap!" Annabeth insisted. "Is Zeus blind?" I mentally groaned.**

**Thunder rolled through the sky.**

**"I'd watch the comments, girl," Hermes warned. "Zeus is not blind _or _ deaf. He has not left Olympus completely undefended."**

**"But there are these blue lights—"**

**"Yes, yes. I saw them. Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate, I'd wager, but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage. Olympus has strong magical wards. Besides, Aeolus, the King of the Winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard the citadel. No one save the gods can approach Olympus from the air. They would be knocked out of the sky."**

**I raised my head. "Um . . . what about that materializing/teleporting thing you guys do?"**

**"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson. Very fast, but the wind gods are faster. No, if Kronos wants Olympus, he'll have to march through the entire city with his army and take the elevators! Can you see him doing this?"**

**Hermes made it sound pretty ridiculous—hordes of monsters going up in the elevator twenty at a time, listening to "Stayin' Alive." Still, I didn't like it.**

**"Maybe just a few of you could come back," I suggested.**

**Hermes shook his head impatiently. "Perci Jackson, you don't understand. Typhon is our greatest enemy."**

**"I thought that was Kronos." I wanted to ask, "_What about Kronos? Don't you care?_" But I knew he did care.**

**The god's eyes glowed. "No, Perci. In the old days, Olympus was almost overthrown by Typhon. He is husband of Echidna—"**

**"Met her at the Arch," I muttered. "Not nice." I wanted to keep my mouth shut, but it wasn't listening to me.**

**"—and the father of all monsters. We can never forget how close he came to destroying us all; how he humiliated us! We were more powerful back in the old days. Now we can expect no help from Poseidon because he's fighting his own war. Hades sits in his realm and does nothing, and Demeter and Persephone follow his lead. It will take all our remaining power to oppose the storm giant. We can't divide our forces, nor wait until he gets to New York. We have to battle him now. And we're making progress."**

**"Progress?" I said. "He nearly destroyed St. Louis."**

**"Yes," Hermes admitted. "But he destroyed only _half _ of Kentucky. He's slowing down. Losing power."**

**I didn't want to argue, but it sounded like my boyfriend was trying to convince himself.**

**In the corner, the Ophiotaurus mooed sadly.**

"Aw...poor Bessie..." Perci muttered, not really paying attention to the book.

**"Please, Hermes," Annabeth said. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"**

**"Messages," he muttered. "'It'll be a great job,' they told me. 'Not much work. Lots of worshippers.'**

**Hmph. Nobody cares what _I_ have to say. It's always about other people's _messages. _" **

_**That's not true.**_** I desperately wanted to say. "I care." I whispered softly.**

** _Rodents, _ George mused. _I'm in it for the rodents. _**

**_Shhh, _ Martha scolded. We _care what Hermes has to say. Don't we, George? _**

**_Oh, absolutely. Can we go back to the battle now? I want to do laser mode again. That's fun. _**

**"Quiet, both of you," Hermes grumbled.**

**The god looked at Annabeth, who was doing her big-pleading-gray-eyes thing.**

**"Bah," Hermes said. "Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods. As if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the _wisdom_ goddess, I'm not sure."**

Athena's grey eyes flashed.

**"Anything else?" Annabeth asked.**

**"She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant."**

**Annabeth's face paled. Obviously she knew what it meant, and she didn't like it. "Go on."**

**"Last thing." Hermes looked at me. "She said to tell Perci: 'Remember the rivers.' And, um, something about staying away from her daughter."**

**I'm not sure whose face was redder: Annabeth's or mine. Athena did know that I was dating Hermes, and Triton was dating Annabeth...right?**

**"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said. "And I . . . I wanted to say . . . I'm sorry about Luke." I winced. Bad subject.**

**The god's expression hardened like he'd turned to marble. "You should've left that subject alone."**

**Annabeth stepped back nervously. "Sorry?"**

**"SORRY doesn't cut it!"**

**George and Martha curled around the caduceus, which shimmered and changed into something that looked suspiciously like a high-voltage cattle prod.**

Perci flinched as Athena and Poseidon glared at Hermes, who in turn shrugged helplessly.

"It's in the future."

**"You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growled at Annabeth. "You're the only one who could have."**

**I tried to step between them. "What are you talking about? Annabeth didn't—"**

**"Don't defend her, Jackson!" Hermes turned the cattle prod toward me. "She knows exactly what I'm talking about." I know what you're talking about too, Hermes.**

**"Maybe you should blame yourself!" I should've kept my mouth shut, but all I could think about was turning his attention away from Annabeth. This whole time, he hadn't been angry with me. He'd been angry with _her. _"Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"**

**Hermes raised his cattle prod. He began to grow until he was ten feet tall. I thought, Well, that's it. I braced myself, trying to ignore the massive amounts of pain that were attacking my heart.**

**But as he prepared to strike, George and Martha leaned in close and whispered something in his ear.**

**Hermes clenched his teeth. He lowered the cattle prod, and it turned back to a staff. He started glowing, so Annabeth and I closed our eyes. We could see a flash of light through our eyelids, as Hermes flashed away.****  
**

**Annabeth sat at the foot of her mother's throne and cried. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure how. I felt numb. _My boyfriend...tried to kill me... _I thought over and over again.**

Tears slid lazily down Perci's face as she curled up into a ball on the couch she and Hermes were sharing. Hermes felt massive guilt attack him viciously.

**"Annabeth," I said, "it's not your fault. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess . . . I don't know .**

**. . he probably feels guilty about Luke. He's looking for somebody to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."**

**Annabeth wiped her eyes. She stared at the hearth like it was her own funeral pyre.**

**I shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't, right?"**

**She didn't answer. Her Celestial bronze knife was strapped to her arm—the same knife I'd seen in Hestia's vision. All these years, I hadn't realized it was a gift from Luke. I'd asked her many times why she preferred to fight with a knife instead of a sword, and she'd never answered me. Now I knew.**

**"Percy," she said. "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"**

**I nodded reluctantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little . . . different." I described May Castellan, and the weird moment when her eyes had started to glow and she talked about her son's fate.**

**Annabeth frowned. "That doesn't make sense. But why were you visiting—" Her eyes widened.**

**"Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you . . . did you bathe in the River Styx?"**

**"Don't change the subject."**

Perci looked down at her feet, attempting to stop the tears but unable to.

**"Percy! Did you or not?"**

**"Um . . . maybe a little."**

**I told her the story about Hades and Nico, and how I'd defeated an army of the dead. I left out the vision of her and Hermes pulling me out of the river. I still didn't quite understand that part, and just thinking about it made me kind of, yet not embarrassed.**

**She shook her head in disbelief. "Do you have _any idea _ how dangerous that was?"**

**"I had no choice," I said. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."**

**"You mean _. . . di immortales, _ of course! That's why Luke didn't die. He went to the Styx and . . . Oh no, Luke. What were you thinking?"**

**"So now you're worried about Luke again," I grumbled.**

"I thought you were dating my son." Amphitrite huffed. "I've finally found the perfect girl for my son." Triton and Annabeth blushed.

**She stared at me like I'd just dropped from space. "What?"**

**"Forget it," I muttered. I wondered what Hermes had meant about Annabeth not saving Luke when she'd had the chance. Clearly, she wasn't telling me something. But at the moment I wasn't in the mood to ask. The last thing I wanted to hear about was more of her history with Luke.**

**"The point is he didn't die in the Styx," I said. "Neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."**

**Annabeth was still studying my face, like she was trying to see differences since my swim in the Styx. "I guess you're right. My mom mentioned—"**

**"Plan twenty-three."**

Annabeth gulped. Triton walked over to her (in human form) and sat down next to Annabeth, who was sitting next to Thalia. Thalia moved to sit between Artemis and Apollo.

**She rummaged in her pack and pulled out Daedalus's laptop. The blue Delta symbol glowed on the top when she booted it up. She opened a few files and started to read.**

**"Here it is," she said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."**

**"One of Daedalus's inventions?"**

**"A lot of inventions . . . dangerous ones. If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad." She looked at me. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?"**

**I shook my head. As usual, I had no clue what the gods were telling me. Which rivers was I supposed to remember? The Styx? The Mississippi?**

**Just then the Stoll brothers ran in to the throne room.**

**"You need to see this," Connor said. _"Now." _**

**The blue lights in the sky had stopped, so at first I didn't understand what the problem was.**

**The other campers had gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. They were clustered at the guardrail, looking down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with those tourist binoculars, where you could deposit one golden drachma and see the city. Campers were using every single one.**

**I looked down at the city. I could see almost everything from here—the East River and the Hudson River carving the shape of Manhattan, the grid of streets, the lights of skyscrapers, the dark stretch of Central Park in the north. Everything looked normal, but something was wrong. I felt it in my bones before I realized what it was.**

**"I don't . . . hear anything," Annabeth said.**

**That was the problem.**

**Even from this height, I should've heard the noise of the city—millions of people bustling around, thousands of cars and machines—the hum of a huge metropolis. You don't think about it when you live in New York, but it's always there. Even in the dead of night, New York is never silent.**

**But it was now.**

**I felt like my best friend had suddenly dropped dead.**

**"What did they do?" My voice sounded tight and angry. "What did they do to my city?"**

**I pushed Michael Yew away from the binoculars and took a look.**

**In the streets below, traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks, or curled up in doorways. There was no sign of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that. It was as if all the people in New York had simply decided to stop whatever they were doing and pass out.**

**"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.**

**Ice coated my stomach. A line from the prophecy rang in my ears: _And see the world in endless sleep. _**

**I remembered Grover's story about meeting the god Morpheus in Central Park. _You're lucky I'm saving my_ _energy for the main event. _**

**"Not dead," I said. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."**

The gods/goddesses had stayed quiet. Perci was sobbing quietly, curled up away from Hermes. Hermes' eyes flashed with pain.

"Perci...can I talk with you?" Hermes asked quietly. Perci managed to stop sobbing as she stood up with her boyfriend and walked to his palace.

"What do you need, milord?" Perci whispered softly. She felt hurt from what happened in the chapter.

"I'm sorry for what I did in the future." Hermes whispered softly.

"It's fine..."

* * *

**In the throne room:**

Apollo looked unusually happy.

"What do you need, Apollo?" Artemis asked crossly.

"Can we play 'Truth or Dare'?" Apollo asked.

"Sure, why not?" Zeus shrugged. Hermes and Perci walked in to hear that.

"PERCI! TRUTH OR DARE!" Thalia shouted. Apollo mock-glared at her but let her continue.

"Dare." Perci shrugged. Thalia smirked evilly.

"I dare you to not listen to music for a month and every time when someone says the title of a song in a sentence, you sing the _whole_ song, or I guess just the chorus if you're really that lazy." Thalia and Annabeth smirked, knowing how much Perci loved music.

"Fine." Perci muttered, grumbling under her breath.

"But that's practically impossible, seeing as Perci loves music." Annabeth choked out. Perci glared at Annabeth.

"What?" Annabeth muttered.

_Tell them all I know now,_

_Shout it from the roof top_

_Write it on the sky love_

_All we had is gone now_

_Tell them I was happy_

_And my heart is broken_

_All my scars are open_

_Tell them what I hoped would be_

_Impossible, impossible_

_Impossible, impossible_

Perci stopped singing, glaring mutinously at her friends.

"Now _Take a Bow_, Perci." Apollo laughed.

_Don't tell me you're sorry 'cause you're not_

_ Baby when I know you're only sorry you got caught_

_ But you put on quite a show_

_ Really had me going  
_

_But now it's time to go  
_

_Curtain's finally closing  
_

_That was quite a show  
_

_Very entertaining  
_

_But it's over now (but it's over now)  
_

_Go on and take a bow_

Perci finished, sighing, reaching for a glass of water.

"I guess we'll have to use several days and some nights to finish this book..." Poseidon thought aloud.

"Oh, c'mon!" Perci grumbled.

_Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck  
Some nights I call it a draw  
Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle  
Some nights I wish they'd just fall off_

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost  
Oh, Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh  
Whoa oh oh (What do I stand for?)  
Whoa oh oh (What do I stand for?)  
Most nights I don't know anymore...  
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh,  
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh

This is it, boys, this is war - what are we waiting for?  
Why don't we break the rules already?  
I was never one to believe the hype  
Save that for the black and white  
I try twice as hard and I'm half as liked,  
But here they come again to jack my style

That's alright (that's alright)  
I found a martyr in my bed tonight  
She stops my bones from wondering just who I am, who I am, who I am  
Oh, who am I? Mmm... Mmm...

Well, some nights I wish that this all would end  
'Cause I could use some friends for a change.  
And some nights I'm scared you'll forget me again  
Some nights I always win, I always win...

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost  
Oh, Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh  
Whoa oh oh (What do I stand for?)  
Whoa oh oh (What do I stand for?)  
Most nights I don't know... (oh, come on)

So this is it. I sold my soul for this?  
Washed my hands of that for this?  
I miss my mom and dad for this?

(Come on)

No. When I see stars, when I see, when I see stars, that's all they are  
When I hear songs, they sound like this one, so come on.  
Oh, come on. Oh, come on. Oh, come on!

Well, that is it guys, that is all - five minutes in and I'm bored again  
Ten years of this, I'm not sure if anybody understands  
This one is not for the folks at home;  
Sorry to leave, mom, I had to go  
Who the fuck wants to die alone all dried up in the desert sun?

My heart is breaking for my sister and the con that she call "love"  
When I look into my nephew's eyes...  
Man, you wouldn't believe the most amazing things that can come from...  
Some terrible nights... ah... _["nights" is confirmed by the band's Twitter page]_

Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh,  
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh

The other night you wouldn't believe the dream I just had about you and me  
I called you up but we'd both agree

It's for the best you didn't listen  
It's for the best we get our distance... Oh...  
It's for the best you didn't listen  
It's for the best we get our distance... Oh...

"Okay-I'm done singing for today." Perci sighed, cuddling into Hermes' arms. Hermes chuckled and closed the book.

"Who's going to read next?"

"ME!" Apollo shouted.

"Can't we wait until morning?" Perci yawned.

"Nope." Apollo chattered as he opened the book.

Perci shrugged and closed her eyes, her head dropping into the crook of Hermes' neck.

* * *

**I realize that maybe this chapter is crappy, but just because I could, I added some twists. Please excuse any typos.**


End file.
